Welcome to Latvia, the one country no one in our class has heard of!
Historical Summary
The country started out as tribes in up until the 12th century. The tribes formed about a half-dozen separate kingdoms. They lived with the Lithuanians, the Prussians, the Galinds, and the Jatvings. Due to the conquering or assimilating of tribes, only the Lithuanians are still around today. The tribes fell under German rule, and the Russian rule. Under Russia, they lived as peasants. They remained under Russian rule until 1919, when Latvia first became independent. The Latvians again fell to the Germans in World War Two, only to become part of the Soviet Union, although most countries did not accept this. Latvia remained under Soviet rule until the republic we see today formed in 1991.
Russia/Soviet Union: Ivan the Terrible originally tried to gain access to the Baltic Sea by taking over Latvia Germany, but failed. Under the Russian Empire, Latvians began to revolt. Like the U.S. and Britain, Latvia trying to gain independence from the Russian Empire made the two enemies. Under the Soviet Union, the unfairness towards the Latvians made them revolt.
Germany: Early on, the Germans wanted to convert the tribes to Christianity. They eventually took over Latvia in their quest to rule the world in the 1940s
Historical Conflicts
In the second half of the 12th century, the Germans became the first to take over Latvia. They decided to invade because the Crusades' focus was geared north to the non-Christian tribes.
After 270 years of German rule, Ivan the Terrible tried to take over Latvia. Resistance from the Pole caused the Russians to fail. As a result, the eastern half of Latvia went to Poland while the western half became an independent state under Russia called the Duchy of Courland.
Sweden took over Vidzeme, a part of the Polish ruled Latvia.
A war in the area in the 1700s, Russia eventually took over the rest of Latvia.
There was relative peace until the end of the 1800s. In the late 1800s Communist ideas made their way through many Latvian minds, and this political reform led to the Revolution of 1905. Many Latvians wanted to be independent from the Russian Empire. It started on January 13th, 1905, when, in result to a strike, protesters in St. Petersburg were shot at. 73 people died in the shooting, and ore died when a chunk of river ice gave way under fleeing protesters. The revolution lasted over a year, with thousands of casualties. Although the Latvians were unsuccessful in gaining independence, it showed that they still wanted to be a sovereign state. Extra website for this bullet point
In the aftermath of World War One, Latvians declared independence. In 1919 they fought the Germans and Russians who were trying to put down the revolution, but eventually, the Latvians came out victorious.
In 1934, Kārlis Ulmanis, taking advantage in in the depression, staged a "bloodless coup" and became the dictator of Latvia for 6 years.
On October 15th, 1940, after admitting Soviet troops in the country the previous year, Soviet troops attacked a town and took hostages. this signified that the Soviet Union wanted Latvia back, and after rigged elections in 1940, Latvia was incorporated into the Soviet Union.
In the following year, the Soviets were hard on Latvians. There were mass arrests, numerous people missing, and hundreds of shootings. In 1942, Germany took control of Latvia.
The German rule wasn't any better that the Soviet rule. Thousands were deported and thousands were killed in the Nazi rule. Thousands of Jews were attacked during the Holocaust. Soviets took Latvia back in 1944-1945.
In Soviet Latvia, there were thousands of deportations. People were deported for two main reasons: being part of a kulak or a nationalist family. If your relative was a nationalist or a kulak, someone who used pre-war statistics, you were kicked out of the country.
In 1991, Latvia gained independence once the Soviet Union deteriorated.
Welcome to Latvia, the one country no one in our class has heard of!
The country started out as tribes in up until the 12th century. The tribes formed about a half-dozen separate kingdoms. They lived with the Lithuanians, the Prussians, the Galinds, and the Jatvings. Due to the conquering or assimilating of tribes, only the Lithuanians are still around today. The tribes fell under German rule, and the Russian rule. Under Russia, they lived as peasants. They remained under Russian rule until 1919, when Latvia first became independent. The Latvians again fell to the Germans in World War Two, only to become part of the Soviet Union, although most countries did not accept this. Latvia remained under Soviet rule until the republic we see today formed in 1991.
Holidays, Remembrances, and National Festivals
For cross-references in History
For Historical Summary